Printing device and method



Allg. 13, 1940. 1 M KlRSTE ET AL 2,211,506

PRINTING DEVICE AND METHOD Filed April l5, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l 62 hi vhh CHARLEJ d. A//RJ TE HARR/J,A//c/7g Fos T5@ a HAR/M5 F0# THE FIRM Aug. 13, 1940. J. M. KIRSTE Er AL PRINTING DEVICE AND METHOD Filed April 15, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented ug. 13, 1940 narran 'raras sii-TENT omer.

PRINTING DEVICE AND METHOD 0application April l5, 1939, Serial No. 268,040

1i) Claims.

Our .invention relates to devices for and methods of printing and is concerned particularly-with situations in which it is required that designs variable in one cross-dimensiony be imprinted on portions of flexible sheets well within the margins of the sheets. Our invention vwill be readily recognized by those skilled in the art as applicable to the imprinting of various designs on all typesfof exible sheets for widely divergent purposes, vbut the invention may beadequately disclosed and the principles involved clearly taught if we direct our description to the printing of designs on book covers.

VAOur invention is applicable to quantity production in which large runs of a given design of given dimensions are made and in which the sheets of a run are of uniform dimensions and in which the design is to be located on the sheets in the same manner throughout the Whole run. The outstanding advantages of our invention, however, are best realized. in broken runs where a design of a given character is to be impressed with variations in one cross-dimension at various locations on iiexible sheets of various dimensions, since one object of our invention is to eliminate the necessity of changing dies and otherwise to save time in carrying out such work.

The situation of the character under consideration here arises in the printing of short runs of -b'ook covers, especially in an establishment that recovers used books. It is common practice to imprint some design upon the back-bone of a book` cover, i. e., upon the centralk portion between the two wings of the cover, the portion that is visible when the book is on a library shelf. Such designs commonly consist merely of one or more straight lines or bars parallel with the top edge of the book and extending only across the width of the intermediate back portion. The covers, of course, are printed in the ilat. In a series of covers for reconstructing used books of various sizes and thicknesses not only will the lengths of the ornamental lines on the intermediate back portions of the books Vary, but also the ypositions of such lines relative to the edges ofthe book covers will vary. In the usual procedure with conventional equipment it is necessary to replace the die in the printing device whenever a cover for a book of one thickness follows a i:cover for a book of a different thickness, because a die is of fixed dimensions and as usually employed imprints corresponding designs of unvarying cross-dimension. It would be ideal, of course, to provide dies that are adjustable with respect. to a cross-dimension whereby the die itself could be manipulated to print straight lines or other designs of variable length.

One object of our invention is to achieve such ideal'flexibility'fin the cross-dimensions of im printed designs when using a conventional die that is in itself of xed dimensions. In this regard .our invention is characterized by the conception that ya die overhanging the edge of a work surface over which a flexible sheetfs bent out of the plane of the work surface will imprint a design of a cross-dimension corresponding to the proportion of the die that overhangs the work surface, so that adjustment Vof the die with respectto the extent of its overhang will result in adjustingfthe cross-dimension of the-imprinted design. In other words, one edge ofthe imprinted design'falls at the end of the die that overhangs 'the work surface and the other edge of the yimprinted design terminates along the line at which the flexible sheet is bent at the edge of the work surface out of the planeV of the work surface-our invention including the discovery that bending a sheet out of range-of a die in such manner will terminate Ythe imprinted design at'the line of bend withthe requiredl sharpness. Another object of our invention, then, is to provide a printing device of the character described in which a die adjustably overhangs the edge of a work surface.

In preparing covers for reconstructingvused books'the die will generally be such as will imprint a straightfline o1' other'relatively simple elongated design and the cross-dimension of the imprinted design that is variable" will vbe the length of such line or elongated design. In some practices of the invention within the scope of our concept, however, the design will be relatively intricate and'of relatively large Yarea in two dimensionsy and the cross-dirnension subject to adjustment inA suchv case `will be more accurately referred to as the Width ofthe design.

The term cross-dimension is to be taken as broad enough to cover either width or length in the area of the imprinted design.

Other objects and advantages of our invention, especially those relating to the adjustability of the device and the manner in which a flexible Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section taken as indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section taken as indicated by the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through the device showing the work support in plan View;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section taken as indicated by the line 6 8 of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a side elevation of the device partly broken away;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section through the work support taken as indicated by the line 8 8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a similar View taken along the line 9 9 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 1G is an enlarged portion of Fig. 8 to show clearly how the flexible sheet lies across the edge of the work support;

Fig. ll is a perspective view of a simple die element for making straight lines or bars on a book cover;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary View of another die element that may be employed to imprint an elongated design on a flexible sheet;

Fig. 13 is a similar view of a die element having another design;

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary plan View of a work support showing a modified work gauge or guide that may be used; and

Fig. 15 is a section taken as indicated by the line l5l5 of Fig. 14.

The preferred form of our invention to be described for the purposes of this disclosure includes a supporting frame generally designated 2S that may be cast from metal or otherwise fabricated. The frame 28 has a base portion 2l` that carries a work support, generally designated 22, and has an overhanging portion or arm 23 upon which a die 25 is mounted in some acceptable manner for cooperation with the work support. The frame 28 in the particular form shown in the drawings is relatively narrow, but may be given the required stability by suitable means such as bolts or screws passing into a suitable foundation through a pair of forward base flanges 2'1 of the frame and a similar pair of rearward baseflanges 28.

The base portion of the frame 28 is formed to provide a platen or stamping anvil 29 covered by a co-extensive anvil plate 38 secured thereto by screws 3 l as best shown in Figs. 5 and 8. The anvil plate 39 is positioned directly under the die 25 and provides a portion of the work surface of the work support 22. The remainder of the work surface of the work support is supplied by a plate 33 which may be simply a board in the same plane as the anvil plate 3D, the board being mounted on the base portion 2| of the frame by suitable screws 35.1. The rigidity with which the board 33 is mounted on the frame 20 may be increased by providing a face plate 35 on the left of the base portion of the frame, the face plate being substantially coextensive with the board 33 and being suitably attached thereto. Preferably, the face plate 35 is set inward slightly to be overhung by the anvil plate 3U so that the edge of the anvil plate constituting the working edge of the Work support 22 will form an overhanging lip 35. This configuration provided by the anvil plate 39 and the face plate 35 is continued in the wood plate 33 in both directions from the anvil plate. In other Words, just under the die 25 the overhanging lip 36 is of metal, as best shown in Fig. 8, Whereas forward and rearward of the anvil plate 39 the overhanging lip is made of wood, as best shown in Fig. 9.

It is apparent that any flexible sheet placed upon the work support 22 for printing by the die 25 must be properly located, first, with respect to the proportion of the sheet that overlies the work support, and, second, with respect to the position of the sheet forward and rearward along the straight edge or lip 36 of the Work support. In other words, the sheet must be properly adjusted in one direction to have the imprinted design fall within the confines of the back-bone" or intermediate back portion of the book cover and must be adjusted in a second direction to determine the position of the imprinted design relative to the top and bottom edges of the book cover.

It is practical for an operator to align each book cover by eye with or without the help of guiding marks or indicia on the work support. In our preferred practice, however, we employ a mechanical guide or gauge means for positioning the book covers, at least with respect to one of these directions. We show in the drawings, therefore, a guide or gauge member, generally designated 38, which, by preference, has a horizontal portion 39 on the surface of the work support 22 and a vertical extension or arm 40 overhanging the plate 35 on the left face of the device. Either the top or the bottom edge of a cover folded over the edge of the lip 36 of the work support is shoved against the guide member, which member thereby determines the spacing of the printed design relative to the top and bottom edges of the book cover. Since the top or bottom edge of a book cover may be irregular, especially at the intermediate back portion or back-bone of the cover, we prefer to design the guide member 38 for contact at only spaced portions of the cover. Thus, we show a guide or contact lug 42 on the horizontal portion of the guide 38 and a second guide or contact lug 43 on the arm 4U. Since the distance of the contact lug 42 from the overhanging lip 35 indicated in Fig. 9 may be too great for smaller sizes of book covers, We prefer to arrange for shifting the contact lug toward the left edge of the work support, when necessary. For example, the lug 42 may constitute a small angular clip releasably secured to the guide member 33 by suitable screws 44, other screw holes 49 being provided for a second position of the clip.

Since the guide 38 must be adjustable relative to the die for various sizes of covers and various positions of the imprinted design on the covers, the guide is to be mounted in any suitable manner for movement forward and backward across the work support and some means is to be provided for releasably securing the guide member at selected positions. In the preferred form of our invention, we mount the guide means 38 on a sunken track that is the equivalent of a slot and provide a simple clamp arrangement for releasably fixing its position along the track. Such a track shown at 41 in the drawings may comprise a channel-shaped member mounted in a corresponding recess 48 of the work support plate 33, the track providing a pair of overhanging tapered shoulders 49. Mounted in the track is a complementary slide block 59 having tapered shoulders 5l conforming to the conguration of the track shoulders 49. The drawings show a pair of pins 52 (Fig. 6) carried by the guide means 38 that slidingly extend into complementary bores 53 in the slide block 50 and thereby serve to maintain the desired perpendicular relationship'betweenthe guide means and slide block,

yet permit a desired extent of vertical movement of the slide block in the track 41. Such vertical movement permits the slide block to cooperate with the `track for clamping the guide 38 at selected positions. To cause such clamping action We employ a thumbscrew 58, the stem of which is threaded into the slide blo-ck 5i). When the screw is loose, the block is free to slide along the track, but when the screw is tight, the slide block is drawn upward into wedging engagement with the tra-ck favored by the coacting tapered shoulders 88 and 5l.

` l*While the book cover tobe imprinted may be manually held against the work support 22 during the printing operation, we find it convenient to incorporate in our construction some means to releasably engage the book cover. For example, we may add a leaf-spring finger 55 that is riveted to the guide means 88 under the head of the thumb-screw 5d, the spring being suitably apertured to clear the stem of the thumb-screw. Since gravity tends to cause the downwardly hanging portion of the book cover to iit snugly over the lip and since it is convenient for the operator to employ his left hand tov press the downwardly hanging portion of the cover against the left face plate 35, we do not iind it necessary to add a second spring finger for the vertical portion of the book cover.

The die 25 may be mounted in any suitable manner on the upstanding arm 28 oi the frame that will permit the die to be moved toward and away from the Work surface 22 and that will permit the die to be adjusted to the right or the left to vary the proportion ci the die that overhangs the work support. In the construction shown, the die is carried by a well-known type of plunger or slide 58 that is movably mounted in a vertical channel 8d in the frame, the slide being retained therein by a pair of guide plates 8l that are attached to the frame by screws 82. Across the top of the arm 23 of the frame is mounted a rocker shaft 63 that is journaled in a pair of bearings 64 above the channel and a third bearing 85 spaced to theA right. The shaft carries a lever or handle 6l! by which it is manually operated and carries a rocker arm 88 that actuates the slide 59. The operative connection between the rocker arm 98 and the slide 59 comprises a link 89 pivoted at one end to a cross pin ll) in the rocker arm and pivoted to the other end to a cross pin 1l in the slide. It is apparent that downward movement of the handle 8l will cause the slide 69 to carry the die toward the work support 22 into printing contact with a book cover thereon. Preferably, the return movement of the slide is actuated by spring means that tends to hold the slide normally in retracted disposition. For this purpose we show an arm "i3 keyed to the end of the rocker shaft 33 and show a helical spring lll having one end engaging an aperture 15 in the arm 73 and the other end engaging a suitable aperture 28 in the base portion of the frame 28.

To provide for adjustment of the die 25 to the left and right across the working edge of the work support 22, we may mount the die on a dove-tailed block 18 that is slidingly mounted in a complementary channel l'ii across the bottom of the slide 59. The position of the dove-tailed block 'I8 along the channel 'i8 is determined by a screw 88 in threaded engagement with a longitudinal bore ,8| of the block, the screw beingU journaled in bearings 82 and 83 that are integral with the slide at opposite ends of the channel '19. For convenientvmanipulation of the screw we show a wheel or handle 84 xed to the leftward end of the screw outside the bearing 82.

In the particular type of printing chosen to illustrate the principles of our invention, namely, that of stamping designs on book covers, some means is employed to maintain. the die at an elevated temperature. To this end we show a heating element 85 carried by the dove-tailed block 'i8 in intimate contact with the die 25, the heating element being energized by suitable wires not shown in the drawings.

The particular die 25 shown in Figs. 1, 4, and 7 comprises simply a small rectangular plate or bar which, as shown in Fig. l1, has a suitable slot 8l cut in from one of its longitudinal edges to clear a thumb-screw 88 on the device. It is apparent that the thumb-screw 88 releasably retains the die and that a die of one design may be substituted for another, if desired. This'particular die 25 will imprint a design that consists simply of a straight line or bar across the back of a book. Dies of other designs may be ernployed, of course, such as the die shown'at 89 in Fig. l2 to imprint a series of wave-like lines, or the die shown at 98 in Fig. i3 to imprint a zigzag line. In any case, the cross-dimension 'of the imprinted design will depend upon the proportion of the die that overhangs the work support 22.

Since the particular printing process being discussed generally involves the use of a strip of foil mounted on a paper ribbon, we incorporate in the construction of our` device means for conveniently feeding such ribbon as required in the printing process. In the arrangement shown in the drawings, a ribbon of paper 92 carrying the usual layer of foil is fed from a spool 93 to and under a roller gli and hence across the printing Zone of the device to a second roller 95. I

The spool 93 is removably mounted in a spool bracket, generally designated al, which bracket, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, may comprise a wing 98 extending from the frame 28 and a bracket arm 98 in the form of a leaf spring attached to the frame by suitable screws 50. A spindle i82 having a knurled head 03 is mounted in the bracket wing S8 and extends throughr an aperture iili in the bracket arm 98. This spindle carries a sleeve E85 dimensioned to receive the cardboard core 88 about which the ribbon 92 is wound to form the spool 93. Preferably, the sleeve it is of slightly less axial extent than the cardboard core it so that the spring pressure of the bracket arm 89 toward the bracket wing 98 will frictionally engage the edge of the cardboard core for the sake of a certain braking action on the spool. It is apparent that the spindle E02 may be withdrawn through the bracket wing 98 for replacing spools as desired.

The roller 98 under which the ribbon 92 passes from the spool 93 may be conveniently mounted on an arm m8 in the form of a rod extending downwardly from the bracket wing 98. The other roller may be mounted on the end 0f a second arm 88 in the form of a rod extending downwardly from the bearing 82, the lower end of the arm being bent to the configuration shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 3 shows the roller 85 mounted cn the arm between two washers H8 and releasably retained thereon by a thumb-nut il l. Preferably, a leaf spring H5 is mounted on the arm 39 as by suitable'rivets I I6, the leaf spring being disposedf to press the paperA ribbon downwardly 75 against the roller to oppose both rotation of the roller and longitudinal movement of the ribbon. The purpose of the described braking action provided by the bracket arm 99 and the leaf spring H5 is to cause a certain tension in the ribbon 92 in the printing Zone or at least to avoid any bothersome sagging of the ribbon. The foil, of course, is on the under side of the ribbon and is driven into the material of the book cover by pressure from the heated die 25. After each printing movement of the die, the operator grasps the used portion of the ribbon hanging from the roller 95 and pulls a fresh portion of the ribbon into the printing zone.

A typical book cover, indicated C in Figs. 5 and 8, comprises a sheet of cloth |20 to the inner surface of which are glued cardboard liners |2| and |22 for the sides of the book and an intermediate liner |23 along the so-called backbone portion of the hook, the liners being suitably spaced whereby the cloth serves as a hinge for each wing of the cover.

If the guide 33 is to be employed for a short run of covers, the guide of course will be set at some particular position in preparation for the stamping operation. The rst cover of a run will then be placed on the work support 22 against the guide 38, the intermediate liner |23 and one of the wing liners, say the liner l2 being face down on the horizontal work face of the Work support, and the other wing liner |22 hanging vertically along the left face plate 35 of the stamping device. It is to be particularly noted by inspection of Fig. 8 that the lip 36 extends into the gap between the liner |22 and the intermediate liner |23 in a manner that favors a sharp bend in the cloth |20 along th-e horizontal edge of the work support. It is apparent that there is, in effect, an interlocking relationship between the lip 36 and the book cover that is of material assistance in aligning the book cover on the work support and that fixes in a positive manner the relative portion of the book cover that overlies the work support. It will be readily recognized by those skilled in the art, of course, that the lip 36 may be omitted to provide a plain rectangular edge and it will be further apparent that if the lip is so omitted, the edge of the work support will still be helpful for properly positioning book covers for printing.

After a book cover is placed on the work support in the manner described, the die 25 is adjusted to the right or left, as necessary, to produce a design of the desired cross-dimension coextensive with the back-bone of the cover. In practice, the operator may readily discern the right-hand edge of the intermediate liner |23 that lies adjacent the liner |2| and i'lnds it a simple matter to rotate the adjustment handle 84 to align the right end of the die 25 in the desired approximation with the right edge of the liner |23. Once the book cover is in the proper position and the die 25 is adjusted correctly, the printing operation is performed by simply pulling down the handle 6l. After the initial adjustment for the first cover of a uniform run, the successive covers may be placed on the work support accurately in rapid succession, the ribbon S2 being shifted as required between each printing operation.

It will be apparent as a feature of our invention that a run ofcovers of diverse dimensions may be printed expeditiously with relatively little time involved in adapting the device to the changing dimensions of the covers. In operating on broken runs, we may dispense with the guide' 38 and simply align successive covers by eye on the work support, the relation of the liners to the edge of the work support being helpful, as heretofore observed. In the course of a broken run, it will be necessary to shift the die 25 to the right or left in accordance with the changing widths of the intermediate liners or back-bones of the covers, but the mechanism for adjustment shown and described lends itself to rapidity of operation and the time consumed in shifting the die is not comparable to the time lost in the older practicein substituting a die for every change in the cross-dimension of the printed design.

In printing sheets of material that do not have liner members to cooperate with the edge of the work support for positioning the sheet, it may be desirable to provide a guide means that will serve in a positive manner to determine the position of the sheet in two directions. For example, we may employ an adjustable guide means, generally designated |25 in Figs. 14 and 15. The construction of this guide means |25 is, for the most part, similar to the previously described guide means 38, corresponding numerals being employed to designate corresponding parts that are unchanged in the modification. The only change in the guide means is found at theright end where the plate forming the horizontal portion l2@ of the guide is turned upwardly to provide a vertical flange |21. The flange |21 has a hori- Zontal slot |28 through which pass a pair of screws |29 carrying thumb-nuts |30. Lying against the face of the vertical flange |21 and retained by the screws |29 is an angular guide clip |3| that provides an edge or guide surface |33 cooperative vvith the guide lug 43 for aligning the sheet in one direction. In other words, the guide surface |33 has the same function as the guide lug 42 in the previously described guide means 38. The guide clip |3| additionally provides a shoulder |34 extending forward from the guide surface |33 to engage the right edge of the sheet to be imprinted, thereby determining the position of the sheet in the second direction. In Fig. 14 the dotted line |35 indicates the edge of the sheet that is in contact with both the guide lug 43 and the guide surface |33, and the dotted line |36 indicates the edge of the sheet that abuts the guide shoulder |34.

We have described preferred forms of our invention in specific detail for the purpose of disclosure and to illustrate the principles involved; but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, and departures may be made in various applications of our inventive concept. We reserve the right to all such changes and departures that properly come within the scope of our appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A device of the character described for marking on a exible sheet a design of any selected cross-dimension within a range of crossdimensions, said device having: a work support providing a work face with an edge to receive the flexible sheet bent across said edge along a line to correspond to one edge of the imprinted design; a die of the required design normally in spaced relation to said work face and aligned to intersect said edge; means to cause relative movement in one direction between said work support and die to vary the proportion of the die overlying said Work face, thereby to vary the cross-dimension of said design to be produced on said sheet; and means to cause relative movement between said work support and die to bring said die against said sheet on the Work support.

2. A device of the character described for marking on a iiexible sheet a design of any selected cross-dimension within a range of crossdimensions, said device having: a work support providing a work face with an edge to receive the ilexible sheet bent across said edge along a line to correspond to one edge of the imprinted design; guide means on said Work support to determine the position of said sheet relative thereto; a die of the required design and of a crossdimension equal to the maximum of said range of cross-dimensions, said die being aligned to intersect said edge; means to cause relative movement in one direction between said work support and die to vary the proportion of the die overlying said Work face, thereby to vary the cross-dimension of said design to be produced on said sheet; and means to bring said die into printing contact with said sheet on the work support.

3. A device of the character described for marking on a flexible sheet a design of any selected cross-dimension within a range of crossdimensions, said device having: a work support providing a work face with a straight edge to receive the flexible sheet bent over said edge along a line to correspond to one edge of the imprinted design, said Work support also providing a surface adjacent said edge against which the bent-over portion of the sheet may be held; a die of the required design at least partially overlying said work face and aligned to intersect said edge; means to cause relative movement between said Work support and die to vary the proportion of the die overlying said work face; and means to bring the die into printing contact with the sheet on said Work support.

4. A device of the character described for marking on a flexible sheet a design of any selected cross-dimension within a range of crossdimensions, said device having: a work support providing a work face with a straight edge to receive the flexible sheet bent over said edge along a line to correspond to one edge of the imprinted design; means to releasably hold the ysheet against said work face; means to cause relative movement between said work support and die to vary the proportion of the die overlying said work face; and means to bring the die into printing contact with the sheet on said work support.

5. A device of the character described for marking on a flexible sheet a design of any selected cross-dimension within a range of crossdimensions, said device having: a work support providing 'a work face with a straight edge to receive the exible sheet bent over said edge along a line to correspond to one limit of said design, said work support also providing a surface adjacent said edge against which the bent-over portion of the sheet may be held; means to releasably hold the sheet against said work face; means to cause relative movement between said work support and die to vary the proportion of the die overlying said work face; and means to bring the die into printing contact with the sheet on sai'dwork support.

6. A device of the character described for marking on a exible sheet a design of any selected cross-dimension Within a range of crossdimensions, said device having: a work support providing a work face With a straight edge to receive the exible sheet bent over said edge along a line to correspond to one edge of the imprinted design, said Work support also providing a surface adjacent said edge against which the bentover portion of the sheet may be held; guide means on said work support for positioning the sheet and determining the proportion of said sheet that overlies said work face, thereby to determine the line of bend of the sheet; meansto releasably hold the sheet against said Work face; means to cause relative movement between said work support and die to vary the proportionl of the die overlying said work face; and means to bring the die into contact with the sheet on said work support.

7. A device as set forth in claim 6 in which said guide means is adjustable and in which said means to releasably hold the sheet is movable with the guide means.

8. 'Ihe method of operating a die and a work support to imprint on flexible sheets designs of various dimensions, characterized by the steps of bending a sheet over an edge of the work support along a line corresponding to one edge of the desired design; adjusting the die to overhang the line of bend of the sheet to an extent corresponding to the desired dimension of the design; and then bringing the die into contact with the sheet on the Work support, whereby one edge of the design imprinted by the die is at said bend line of the sheet and the spacing therefrom of the opposite edge of the pattern is determined by the extent the die overlies the sheet.

9. A device of the character described for printing on the intermediate back portion of a book Cover having spaced liners, said device including: a work support providing a work face with an edge to receive the flexible sheet bent across said edge along a line to correspond to one edge of the imprinted design, said work support being recessed under said edge to form a lip to extend between liners on said cover; a die of the required design normally in spaced relation to said work face and aligned to intersect said edge; and means to cause relative movement between said Work support and die to bring said die against said sheet on the Work support.

10. A method of operating a die and a work support to imprint on a run of successive flexiblesheets a design that varies in one dimension in the course of the run, characterized by the steps of bending each sheet over an edge of the work support along a line corresponding to one edge of the design desired thereon; adjusting the die to overhang said edge of the work support across said bend line of each sheet with an extent of the die overlying the work support corresponding to said dimension of the design required for' the sheet; and varying the overhang of the die as required when said design dimension for one sheet differs from the design dimension for the previous sheet of the run.

JOI-IN M KIRSTE. CHARLES J. KIRSI'E. 

